C2

"Flowers gleam and glow,

Let your power shine,

Make the clock rewind,

Heal what has been hurt,

Change the fates design..."

*******

"Wake up your Highness! Its morning!" The familiar voice jerked Salil awake from his sleep. And to say he was surprised would be an understatement. He was shocked. Finding his dear attendant, whom he had watched bleed to death, walking around his room arranging his things for the morning was shocking. He wanted to believe that what he just saw was a dream but something told him it wasn't. And as if on cue he got flashbacks of hos previous life. How the king's noblemen framed him, how he lost his child, how he killed himself.... All the torment played before his eyes like a broken record. And then a voice sounded,

"High king Salil... I give you a second chance at life. Use it wisely."

And it was like something snapped in the said person. The loss, agony and anger he felt in his previous life came back rushing.

"Are you awake yet Salil?" The High king snapped from his daze hearing his attendant, Madhur's voice once again. He couldn't help the tears that left his eyes.

"Do you hurt a lot, Salil?" asked a clueless Madhur seeing Salil shed silent tears. Maybe his Majesty was a lot more rough last night, thought the attendant and rushed to his master's aid but the bone crushing ug he received out of nowhere shocked him. Salil was hugging him like it was the last time they were seeing each other. This increased his confusion by tenfold.

Recovering from his crying fit, Salil asked Madhur a very important question. Date. He needed to know if he still had time before that horrible fate repeated itself.

"Its been a year and half since you married the King. Its 8th of March. You were quite drunk at the king's birthday celebration yesterday. Later the King escorted you to your chambers and stayed the night." said Madhur as he helped Salil into the bath. Now Salil understood why he was feeling so sore. Horny bastard, he cursed the king in his heart as he cleaned himself with occasional help of Madhur.

While dressing up in his robes, Salil's attention went back to the date Madhur had told him. If it was a year and a half since their marriage, then it meant that concubine Mayuri has already entered the palace and now he had just four months to escape the deadly fate. But if the king stayed with him the last night then it meant that he may be pregnant.

Pregnant. Baby. How rejoiced he was when heard these words in his last life but right now all he felt was sheer fear just by the thought of it. And if it really happened then it was much more necessary for him to escape this palace to save the little life, to save himself. And he knew who could help him in this mission.

He was done loving the bastard of a king. Now he wanted nothing to do with him. His Majesty could go fuck himself with a dagger for all he cares.

*******

"The High king wants to send a letter to his brother, your Majesty." said King Atharva's shadow gaurd, Shikhar as he present the letter he had just received from Salil's attendant. Atharva raised his eyebrow at the letter. He does not remember Salil wanting to send a letter to his brother in his past life.

Yes, Salil wasn't the only one who remembered his past life.

Waking up next to Salil in the morning confused him to no end but when he heard a voice telling him about his second chance at life, he was rejoiced. He wanted to stay back with his husband and care for him but then he was reminded of the pests dwelling in his palace and he was forced to leave his sleeping husband with a kiss on his forehead.

"Let me clear those pest off the palace and then I'll show you how much I love you my love." whispered the king to his sleeping husband and left but not before appointing a troop of his personal shadow gaurds to protect his queen. He'll be damned if he let any harm come to his beloved this time.

"Your Majesty?" Shikhar's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and commanded him to read the letter his high king has requested to send. It wasn't about not trusting is high king, it was just the procedure.

"It's been a year and half so

soon brother. The life here in this

palace is fine. But I miss the mango tree of our palace. It must be flowering now... I hope you're doing fine brother.

And that you have found someone

to love..."

Read Shikhar. He was quite confused to see the High king talking to his brother about some mango tree when he could've complained about all the unfair things that happened to him since he entered the palace. The High king had a heart of gold if he forgave all those follies of the stupid king.

Little did he know that the mango tree was a safe word that Samartha had told his brother, Salil to use when he wanted to escape his marriage, when he was leaving his kingdom.

Whereas Atharva took as his husband craving mangoes and which lead to Princess Swara's arrival at Salil's palace with huge crates of mangoes from the king.

*******

The very next night when Salil was getting ready to sleep, a bird flew into his chamber, his brother's pet eagle, Hawa to be precise.

Salil raised his hand and the bird perched on it like it used to back in Kaveri Kingdom. Salil took out the little scroll attached to a chain hidden in the bust feathers of the mighty bird and read it.

"Should I hold a celebration at your arrival before the tree?"

Read the letter. Salil couldn't help but laugh at his brother's antics. The guy would always jump to wars without thinking much. But he couldn't let his brother fight this one. It's not that he didn't trust his brother's skills, he just didn't want anykind of bloodshed.

As for kicking that stupid king's ass, there were many other ways for it.

Hiding a simple message in Hawa's bust feathers, Salil set the bird free. He was sure that his brother would easily understand the message afterall it wasn't the first time that they were using this secret code.

Soon he would be back home. And thsi thought made him go to bed with a smile.

The shadow gaurds who watched the bird leaving the queen's chambers tried catching it to check if there was anything that would harm the king but the bird was too quick. In a blink of an eye it was hundreds of metres above the ground, blended into the darkness leaving the gaurds to just stare at the sky helplessly. His Majesty would have their head for this little slip.

*******

In the kingdom of Kaveri, the bird perched on his master's hand, waiting for his reward for gis successful endeavour while his master read the message his loyal pet had brought.

"I just want to see the tree."

King Samartha smiled reading the message. A plan already brewing in his mind.

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